Football: That was the weekend that was: McFarland on top of his mind game

WHO SAYS you cannot teach an old dog new tricks? Roy McFarland, an English player of the old school - tough, self-motivated and brought up to respond to the manager's bark - is proving he can move with the times as he attempts to rebuild his managerial reputation with Cambridge United.

His team - unlucky to be beaten on penalties by Nottingham Forest in the Worthington Cup last week - are making impressive strides towards promotion in the Third Division, and McFarland attributes much of their success to help provided free of charge by a sports psychologist.

"It's our secret weapon," the former Derby and Bolton manager said. "It is all about confidence-building, which is important with a young set of players. The psycholgist came to us. He said he thought he could help and we have seen some positive results.

"It might not be so useful if we had an older set of players, who might be tempted to dismiss it as a load of codswallop but our players have gone into it with open minds and seen the benefit. He gives his services free of charge once a month."

United's improvement has been startling, especially away from home. Saturday's win at Mansfield was their fifth in a row on their travels.